UF celebrates importance of being smoke-free campus

By Jeff SchweersStaff Writer

Wednesday

Jul 24, 2013 at 4:19 PM

The university's smoking ban in residence halls, graduate living and family housing directly affects 9,500 students.

Thirty years ago, it wouldn't be hard to find a knot of students smoking at the Reitz Union or in a dormitory lounge. Professors smoked in their offices, and administrative meetings were held in a smoky haze.Nowadays, you'd have a hard time finding anyone smoking on campus three years after the university banned smoking in all dorms, classrooms and other facilities and within 50 feet of its property boundaries.On Wednesday, Tobacco Free Florida recognized UF's progress toward becoming a smoke-free campus by awarding it the highest certification possible under its new Tobacco Free Smoke Free Recognition Program. The Continuum, a privately managed apartment complex for graduate and professional students, also received a certification.The event, held in the Murphree Area Commons, kicked off a nine-county pilot project by Tobacco Free Florida.Under the pilot project, apartment communities will be able to submit paperwork showing their policies and rental agreements about smoking. Tobacco Free Florida then will certify them as Blue for smoke-free, Gold for prohibiting smoking indoors and within 25 feet of buildings and amenities, and Silver for allowing smoking outdoors.“This is not only good for public health but it's good for business,” said Florida Surgeon General Dr. John Armstrong. “We want to take this initiative and spread it across the state.”The university's smoking ban in residence halls, graduate living and family housing directly affects 9,500 students,said Dave Kratzer, vice president for student affairs at UF.“Smoke-free living protects health and creates awareness of second-hand smoke,” he said.President Bernie Machen -- who quit smoking years ago --- said since he was an undergraduate 50 years ago, the percentage of smoking Americans has dropped from 50 percent to 20 percent.He said the recognition was fitting, noting that 2015 will be the 50th anniversary of the U.S. surgeon general first acknowledging the link between cigarette smoking and cancer.Student Body President Christina Bonnarrigo, who has lived on campus in a dorm and in a sorority house, said the ban is the most effective way to prevent the spread of second-hand smoke.“Smoke is rarely contained in a single unit,” she said, describing how it spreads to other units throughout the building through air ducts, electrical lines and other gaps in the building structure. Less than 10 percent of the student body and faculty smoke, and only 2 percent admit to smoking daily, according to an anonymous survey. GatorWell has counselors available to help the remaining smokers give up the habit, Bonnarrigo said.Norb Dunkel, assistant vice president and director of housing and residence education, said the university has come a long way since the early 1980s when the only guideline was “please use an ashtray.”“It was not unusual to conduct programs and meetings in a haze of cigarette smoke,” Dunkel said.But the 1985 Florida Clean Indoor Act and its subsequent revision, along with changes in student and faculty attitudes toward smoking, led to a campus-wide smoking ban in 2010 that affects all 160 buildings at UF.UF was the first public university in Florida to go smoke-free, joining 400 universities across the nation. But other state universities have followed with similar policies. Florida State University and the University of Central Florida have campus-wide smoking bans in place, and the University of South Florida allows smoking only in designated areas.The ban is expected to be enforced by everyone in the university community. Violators are supposed to be told about the policy and asked to extinguish their cigarettes and throw them out. If a student refuses, he or she can be reported to the Dean of Student Offices. If a staff or faculty member fails to comply, his or her immediate supervisor is to be notified.Maggie Peng, who is getting a master's degree in public health, said she appreciates the ban even though she doesn't live on campus. “The places we walk and study areas are clean places,” she said.

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